When light rays strikes a surface, part of the beam passes through the surface and the rest reflects back, like a ball bouncing on the ground. Where it bounces depends on how you throw the ball.
Have you ever looked into a pool of clear, still water and seen your own face? The surface of the water acts like a mirror and you can see your reflection. (In fact, before mirrors were invented, this was the only way people had to look at themselves.) If you were swimming below the surface, you’d still see your own face – the mirror effect works both ways.
Have you ever broken a pencil by sticking it into a glass of water? The pencil isn’t really broken, but it sure looks like it! What’s going on?
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No, not really. They would just look for the light itself.
Is the flour in the glass trick the way spies would find laser beams in a room?
I have two ideas. First, how dark did you get your room? Second, what happens if you try a thinner container? Sometimes the internal reflections trapped within the container can cause a blurry image. Keep trying!
We had trouble seeing the beam on the wall. We tried shining it through the milky water and clear water. With a strong flashlight we could see the circular beam, but not the reflected/oval beam.
we used a recycled jam jar with ten sides and we saw seven pennies!